Israel Says Forces Complete Withdrawal from Lebanon; Forces Involved Exaggerated

Israeli forces completed their withdrawal from Lebanon today. Military sources said yesterday’s 32-hour punitive expedition against terrorist bases behind the Lebanese border was greatly exaggerated by the Arabs and the world press as regards the number and strength of Israeli units participating. The sources gave no figures but their intimation that yesterday’s reports of 1000 troops spearheaded by 100 tanks were incorrect. According to military spokesmen, the action was limited to combing an area on the slopes of Mt. Hermon, east of the Hasbani River, which is known as “El Fatah land” owing to its virtual control by the Palestinian guerrilla organization. The Israelis penetrated no more than 20 kilometers inside Lebanon. An undisclosed number of guerrillas were killed and 11 were taken prisoner according to the Israeli account. Israel suffered 11 men wounded in the entire operation. Israeli forces destroyed 40 buildings used by the guerrillas and ten vehicles, some of them loaded with arms and ammunition. Two bunkers were demolished, one of which contained Katyusha rockets and rocket launchers.

The Israeli forces also destroyed a four-barrelled anti-aircraft gun position and an ammunition bunker. Six Lebanese villages were surrounded and identity checks and interrogation weeded out guerrillas among the inhabitants. According to a military spokesman, two of the captives confessed to firing Katyusha rockets at Kiryat Shemona last week. Three Israeli civilians were killed in the rocket attacks. Israel’s assessment of the Lebanese operation implied that it was not of the scope and importance to warrant yesterday’s action by the Security Council. The Council unanimously adopted a Spanish resolution demanding the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon. But even before the resolution was formulated, Israel’s chief representative. Ambassador Yosef Tekoah, interrupted his speech to announce that the Lebanese operation had been completed and that Israeli troops were preparing to withdraw. To some Israeli leaders the resolution was an implied rebuke, even though it contained no element of censure. Premier Golda Meir said today that the Security Council “has no right to tell us what to do if it cannot bring back to life the youngster who was killed at Kiryat Shemona last week.”